Armed & Magical

Chapter 22

It took Tanik’s boys nearly two hours to get what I needed, but what they brought me didn’t disappoint. An elf lay trussed and mostly unconscious at my feet. An embassy guard captain. Perfect. High enough of a rank to get respect, low enough not to attract too much attention. Plus he was good-looking. If I had to be a man, at least I got to be a handsome one.

“I need his name,” I told Tanik’s first mate.

The man grinned and pulled a disk and chain out of the guard’s tunic and over his head.

Dog tags. Excellent.

Captain Baran Ratharil. Serial number 847364. My identity for the evening. I hung the tags around my neck. Captain Ratharil was about to take Taltek Balmorlan’s newest prized possession out of the embassy right under his nose.

At least that was the plan. It was my plan, I liked it, and I was going to do everything in my ability and power to make certain that it happened.

I was going into the embassy alone. Phaelan didn’t like that.

“I’ll be waiting across the street,” he said, his expression as dark as his mood.

“With six of my best men,” Tanik added.

“If something goes wrong, there’ll be nothing you can do to help,” I told them both. “You won’t even know I’m in trouble.”

Phaelan almost smiled. “If you and Piaras get into trouble, everyone within a ten-mile radius is going to know about it.”

He was probably right.

“Phaelan, if anything happens to me—”

“Nothing is going to happen to you.” He said it like he personally dared Fate to defy him.

“Okay then, in the unlikely event that a mishap should befall me…”

Phaelan scowled.

“I want you and Tanik to promise me that you’ll do everything you can to keep Balmorlan from taking Piaras off of this island.” I looked from one of them to the other. “And if he does, you will find Piaras, regardless of where he is—or how long it takes. Promise me.”

Phaelan’s dark eyes were solemn. “I swear to you that Piaras will not leave this island without me—and Taltek Balmorlan will not leave this island alive.”

“That’s all I could possibly ask for. Thank you.”

I looked down at the embassy captain. Tanik’s boys had done clean work, but they hadn’t been gentle.

“Captain Ratharil is going to have one hell of a headache when he comes around,” I noted.

Tanik grinned. “By the time that happens, he’ll be blindfolded and kept literally in the dark about where he is. I’m not a coward, but I don’t go around asking for trouble in the cities where I do business. When we’re finished with him, the boys will dump him in an alley, loosen his knots, and run like hell.”

I knelt behind the guard and lifted one of his eyelids. Dark green eyes, a few freckles, strong features, slight stubble on his face. He hadn’t shaved today. I hoped that didn’t violate some kind of embassy guard rule. With my luck, it would.

“Could you stand him up for me?” I asked Tanik’s first mate. “I need to get a look at all of him. Tied up and on the floor doesn’t get it. Plus I need to see how tall he is.”

“Ask and receive,” he said brightly. “Boys, you heard the lady. Stand our guest up.”

They stood him up and held him up. I walked around him twice, and went through the same process that I had with Phaelan. When I looked in the mirror on the salon’s wall, I saw two Captain Baran Ratharils.

I straightened my/his tunic. “Wish me luck, gentlemen.” My new voice was a baritone, commanding and authoritative. I detected a hint of arrogant jerk. Wonderful. Ratharil was probably an asshole, hated by one and all.

Phaelan stepped up and hugged me, man body be damned. “Good hunting, cousin.”

I wore a large cloak until I’d cleared the harbor area, and once I got within a half mile of the embassy, I ditched it and walked briskly the rest of the way. I didn’t go too fast, but Captain Ratharil didn’t seem to be the type to tolerate dawdling, either in himself or anyone else. I combined Mychael’s confident stride with a touch of Phaelan’s swagger. Somehow it felt right for Ratharil.

Something didn’t feel right for me. That something was what put the pride in Phaelan’s stride. There were entirely too many things crowding the front of my trousers. I had to resist the urge to adjust myself every few steps. Whenever I’d seen a man do that before, I thought it was rather disgusting; now I found it absolutely necessary. I ducked down a side street, reached down, and did what a man’s gotta do.

Whoa.

When I came out of that side street, I felt justified putting a little more swagger in Ratharil’s step.

True to his word, Tanik didn’t just tell me about the embassy basements, he had an actual floor plan of the whole building. While I had waited for his boys to bring me a guard to copy, I memorized the plans—especially the fastest ways out of there. If it involved survival, it was amazing what I could memorize. Lucky for me, there were several likely routes.

I was two blocks from the embassy when I saw the Guardians.

They were armed and armored for patrol. I wasn’t sure if Guardians routinely patrolled the city, but that’s what it looked like they were doing now. Even if Mychael knew where Piaras was being held, there wasn’t a damned thing he could do about it. The elven embassy was elven soil, and even though Mychael was an elf, he was also paladin of the Conclave Guardians. He couldn’t enter the embassy in an official capacity, let alone search the place. Taltek Balmorlan, Giles Keril, and the entire embassy staff including the guards, had diplomatic immunity and any crime they committed had to go through the elven legal system.

Mychael had to be looking everywhere for me and Piaras—that is if he’d been able to leave Justinius’s bedside— if the archmagus was still alive. I hoped he was, and not just for Mid’s sake. I liked the old guy. The Guardians coming toward me could also be patrolling the streets looking for me on Acting Archmagus Carnades’s orders.

I wanted to duck into the shadows, but I had to remind myself that I wasn’t me, at least not to these four Guardians. I didn’t know any of them, which was good. I also didn’t know what the relationship was between Guardians and elven embassy guards, and I wasn’t keen to find out. Being a captain—but mostly being male—I decided that direct eye contact was called for. Not confrontational, but not evasive, either. The Guardians went with a give-us-an-excuse-to-beat-the-crap-out-of-you look.

So much for Guardian/embassy guard relations.

As we approached each other on the narrow sidewalk, the Guardians didn’t make room for me to pass. I knew what was coming, so when we passed each other and one of the Guardian’s shoulders rammed into mine, my shoulder met him halfway and just as hard. He grunted with the impact. I didn’t. I also didn’t get a dagger between the shoulder blades once I was past them. I guess according to man rules that meant I’d won.

It was just after midnight, but the elven embassy still looked like it was expecting a full-scale attack at any moment. Taltek Balmorlan must be feeling a little insecure this evening. He had Piaras. No one had me. That had to make the inquisitor just a tad bit nervous. He knew what I was capable of, and he knew how I felt about Piaras. The guards patrolling the battlements looked ready to shoot the first thing that moved wrong. I made sure I was moving as much like Captain Baran Ratharil as I knew how when I crossed the street and approached the embassy gates.

There were a major and two lieutenants on duty in the small guardhouse next to the warded gate. I saluted the major and ignored the lieutenants. It felt like what Ratharil would do. The major responded with a sharp salute, as did the lieutenants after they’d snapped to attention. A disciplined and alert group of guys. Just what I didn’t need.

While I waited for the ward to open to admit me, I tried to clear my mind of me, Piaras, and the desire to strangle Taltek Balmorlan and kick Giles Keril’s bony butt from here to the harbor. I was Captain Baran Ratharil, it had been a long day, it was after midnight, and I was tired.

The ward parted just enough to let me in.

“Ratharil!” It was the major.

Damn. I stopped midstride.

“Ambassador Keril has been asking for you for the past hour.” The major grinned and chuckled. “I think he’s lost his reading spectacles again. You’re to go straight to his office.”

I saluted again, this time with less enthusiasm. “Yes, sir.”

I went through the wards and they closed behind me with a sizzle. Forget Keril—I was going to kick Tanik’s crew’s butts from here to the harbor. Thanks to them, I was now Captain Baran Ratharil—the ambassador’s lackey.

Logic, Raine. Just use logic.

I was inside the embassy in an overly ornate, marble-floored reception hall, and I had absolutely no idea where Keril’s office was. Not that I had any intention of going there, but since I was trying to avoid Keril, it’d be good to know where the little weasel was.

Continuing to stand there looking confused would attract attention I didn’t need. I’d been inside one or two government offices before. This was basically the same thing, I told myself; it was just a little fancier than I was used to. In my limited experience, the first floor was for reception and underlings’ offices. The important people worked upstairs—or in Keril’s case, the self-important people.

Piaras was upstairs.

I took a deep breath, adjusted myself, and started up the stairs.

At the top the first flight was a wide corridor, and the walls down both sides were covered floor to ceiling in massive mirrored panels. No doors, just mirrors. Crap.

Naturally, the stairs to the next floor were at the other end. I started walking, and tried to keep my mind off who or what could be lurking on the other side of any mirrored panel. I took a casual glance at my reflection. Yep, still the captain.

“Baran, where have you been?”

I nearly jumped out of my borrowed skin. I recognized the voice, which was the only reason my dagger was still in my hand instead of embedded in the elven ambassador. For all I knew, Ratharil may have wanted to kill his boss, but I didn’t think now was a good time to do it, as much as I’d like to.

Giles Keril stood just inside an open panel. The mirrors concealed the doors to offices.

That was just wrong.

I smoothly sheathed my dagger. “Forgive me, Your Excellency. You startled me.”

Keril’s eyes were a little wide. “When did you start carrying throwing knives?”

“Since this evening, sir. I felt it was prudent considering the circumstances.”

“Quite true.” He swallowed. “You are wise to be so well prepared.”

I inclined my head respectfully. “Thank you, sir. I understand you have been looking for me. My apologies for keeping you waiting. My errand took longer than I expected.”

“I’ve lost my reading spectacles again and I can’t find them.”

I swore silently and followed him back into his office, and went through the motions of looking around. From the looks of things, Keril wasn’t a patient man. He’d essentially trashed his own office. I hoped he didn’t expect me to clean it up.

“Have you looked in all the usual places where you’ve left them before?” I kept my voice casual, as if I had all the time in the world for this.

Keril shot me an indignant look. “Of course.”

One of my hands curled into a fist. “Have you been outside of your office today, in another part of the embassy?”

“I’ve had several meetings.”

“Where, if I may ask?”

“Down the hall earlier this afternoon, and upstairs this evening.”

Upstairs. Perhaps Giles Keril wasn’t a colossal waste of my time.

“Have you searched either place?”

“No, I was certain they were here.”

“Sir, I would be glad to check both locations for you, if you would like.”

“I can look upstairs, if you would take Symeon’s office down the hall,” Keril suggested. “I believe he’s gone for the evening but his assistant can let you in.”

No way, no how. “Sir, you’ve searched your office very thoroughly.” I made a show of looking around at the disaster that was Keril’s office. “And you must be exhausted from what happened this evening.”

The little elf cleared the papers from his office chair and sat down with a sigh. “I am quite fatigued.”

“Then I insist on going upstairs for you. Was your meeting on the top floor?”

“Yes.”

“Did you have your spectacles with you then?”

Keril beamed in realization. “Why yes, I did. It’s been so hectic tonight that I’d forgotten. Inquisitor Balmorlan needed my signature on a prisoner extradition document. I would have needed my spectacles to sign it.”

Son of a bitch.

“Then I’m certain your spectacles are still there.” I smiled at him. “If not, I promise I’ll turn this place upside down until I find what I’m looking for.”

There were two guards on duty on the top floor. One was leaning back in a chair at the end of the hall; the other was walking toward me. A captain. Good. No salutes needed.

“Evening, Baran,” he said as he passed me.

Sometimes it was nice to be recognized.

“Evening,” I replied.

“And make it strong,” the other guard yelled.

“Yeah, yeah, Rance. I hear you. Next time, you’re going for the damned coffee.”

It didn’t take any acting for me to look tired, but amiable took some work. I saw what Rance and Captain Whoever were guarding. The last room on the right was layered and crackling with wards. Somebody had laid them on thick.

Piaras was in there. I knew it.

From the bars on his uniform, Rance was also a captain—and a prison mage. All they did was ward and guard. Chances were he’d constructed those wards himself, and if I tried to take them down, the alarms would bring everyone in the entire compound.

He didn’t have the key to Piaras’s cell—he was the key. Rance leaned forward, the front legs of the chair coming to rest on the floor. “What brings you up here this time of night?”

“Guess,” I said, my voice flat.

Rance chuckled. “What’d he lose this time?”

“His specs. Again.” I ran my hand over my stubble. “He’s positive he left them up here, and he sent me to look. Do you know which room he was in tonight?”

Rance swore and jerked his head toward Piaras’s warded door. “Guess.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah.”

“I hate to ask, but could you…?” I made a parting motion with my hands.

“Do you know how long it took me to put those up?”

“Couldn’t have been quick; it’s impressive work.”

“Damned right it is. And that inquisitor’s been making me let him in and out all night.”

“Is he coming back soon?” I resisted the urge to look behind me.

Rance yawned and shook his head. “Not for another hour. But the room will be empty then and you can look for specs all you like.”

I stood completely still. “Empty?”

“He’ll be taking his prisoner with him. Fast ship to somewhere that’s not here. Good riddance, too. That inquisitor’s been a pain in everyone’s ass since he got here. But then they all are.”

“It’s been a long day, Rance.” I tried to sound tired and speak slowly, which wasn’t easy since my heart had just jumped into my throat. “An hour’s a long time to wait.” I paused meaningfully. “I’d owe you one.”

“Yeah, you would.” He regarded me for a second or two, then pushed himself out of his chair with a grunt. “You might want to stand behind me. Wouldn’t want you to get hit with the backlash.”

“I wouldn’t want that, either.” I stepped behind him and reached inside my tunic for one of Tanik’s gifts.

Rance deftly parted a section of the wards. “There you go; that’ll stay for a minute or two. Be quick—”

I was, with a blackjack to the back of his head.

Piaras was on a pallet in the corner. He was either unconscious or asleep. I was hoping for asleep. I leaned over him, my hands gripping his shoulders, shaking him gently.

“Sweetie, wake up.”

Piaras opened his eyes, took one look at the man leaning over him and calling him “sweetie,” and punched that man squarely in the balls.